The Ecologic Institute analysed stakeholder submissions to the European Commission's public consultation on fishing opportunities for 2015. The consultation generated widespread interest from a range of stakeholders: the fishing sector, public authorities, scientists, fisheries advisory councils, citizens and NGOs. The evaluation demonstrates that stakeholders are concerned by overfishing and that most of them have a good understanding of the issues at stake, including of the objective to recover fish stocks to levels above those capable of producing the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). The report is available for download.

Invited by the IASS (Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies) and in cooperation with Ecologic Institute, Michael K. Orbach (Duke University Professor of the Practice Emeritus of Marine Policy) gave a presentation entitled, "Social Sciences in Ocean Policy and Resilience of Coastal Communities – What in the world is going on in America?" Drawing on studies undertaken by Ecologic Institute and Duke University investigating both Germany and the U.S., the talk described the cultural phenomena that underlie public policy regarding climate change in these two countries, with a focus on the U.S.

On 27 February 2015, experts from Germany and the United States joined in Washington, D.C. at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to discuss their work as it related to the conference theme, The Geopolitics of Energy. This conference was sponsored by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University with participation by Ecologic Institute Berlin.

This report shows the results from the implementation of the MCA in eight RISC-KIT cases that highlights several key lessons for future DRR projects with regards to a) the importance of sufficient preparation for participatory sessions; b) stakeholder interaction and inclusion in the DRR projects; c) the way research results are presented to non-research communities; d) and the challenges of implementing single-approaches to diverse contexts.

Prevailing resource use patterns of the global socio-industrial metabolism are unsustainable. For effective resource policies, drivers for such unsustainable resource use and their effects need to be better understood and mapped. In the context of the FP7 research project DYNAMIX, Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers and co-authors identified by means of meta-analysis a set of ten driver categories that affect unsustainable resource use.

Milesecure 2050 Analysis of Concrete Anticipatory Experiences on Energy Transition at the Local Level. February 2015. Milesecure 2050 Policy Brief. Turin: Politecnico di Torino.

On 2 March 2015, Eurostat published its most recent Flagship Publication Smarter, greener, more inclusive?. The report, commissioned by Eurostat, assesses the EU's progress in implementing the Europe 2020 strategy. Commissioned by Eurostat, Andreas Prahl, Katharina Umpfenbach and Eike Velten of Ecologic Institute edited the chapter on climate change and energy. It discusses progress towards the so-called 20-20-20 targets which aim at cutting EU greenhouse gas emissions, increasing renewable energy supply, and improving energy efficiency.

This assessment report gives an overview of the key indicators for the POCACITO (Post-Carbon Cities of Tomorrow) case study of Rostock. This mid-sized city is located in Central Europe on the north-east coast of Germany. Rostock is a regional centre and coastal city. The assessment provides an outline of some of its main challenges and opportunities. The report was used in the POCACITO project for workshops with stakeholders in Rostock on vision building and back-casting to derive a 2050 roadmap as well as a scenario modelling on Rostocks measures for climate change mitigation.

Kaphengst, Timo and Christiane Gerstetter (2015). Addressing Multiple Values of Biodiversity in Development Cooperation - Policy Brief January 2015. Berlin: Ecologic Institute.

The European Commission and the Council call for increased regional cooperation between Member States. In addition to strengthening the internal market, this cooperation is meant to facilitate the implementation of the EU 2030 energy efficiency and renewable targets. In this policy paper, Ecologic Institute's Katharina Umpfenbach, Andreas Graf and Camilla Bausch take a closer look at the existing landscape of regional institutions in the European electricity sector to explore their potential contribution to an effective future governance framework. The policy paper is available for download.

Despite the European Union's efforts to promote good governance in Armenia, economic resources and political power have become interwoven in often illicit ways. Corruption is widespread at all levels of the state apparatus. Against this background, this case study, co-authored by Christoph Stefes and Katherine Weingartner of Ecologic Institute, looks at the causes of environmental crime in Armenia-taking the mining sector as an example-and describes measures that the European Union could take to contribute to preventing future environmental crime in the country. The case study is available for download.

Ana Frelih-Larsen, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation to a group of international journalists during an Informational Tour for Journalists and Experts in the context of the Green Week in Berlin. She gave an overview of the process of climate change mainstreaming in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), outlining the underlying scientific evidence base and discussing the basic principles of mainstreaming. She further illustrated the various tools that Member States can use to integrate climate objectives in the CAP 2014-2020 and discussed the key practical aspects and barriers to mainstreaming implementation.

This think piece draws together evidence on the state of the economy, society and the environment to show that the EU's multiple challenges may be tackled simultaneously by the use of policy changes to change the direction of market demand. Christian Hudson, the author of this document is Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute. The document is available for download.

This workshop aimed at discussing the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade agreement under negotiation between the European Union and the United States of America with regards to the specific food and agricultural provisions that would be included in the agreement. Issues with regulatory cooperation between the two systems as well as eliminating trade barriers to facilitate the flow of goods across the Atlantic were discussed. Ecologic Institute, US (EIUS) co-hosted the workshop with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on 9 January 2015.

Dimitrova, Asya; Anna Dimitrova; Markus Hametner and Tanja Srebotnjak 2014: Blueprint for a Revised Europe 2020 strategy: preliminary study.